Festivals, Fairs and Amusement Park Food – Alameda County Fair, Pleasanton, CA

It may seem that CPM is partial to the kind of food that finds its way to Festivals, Fairs and Amusement Parks, but we come by it honestly. We have a family history rich in the carnival and so I guess the food just speaks to us. As a matter of fact, I can’t think of a midway game our dad couldn’t win just because he always knew the inside track. We also happen to have a huge foodie streak. So, to say our forefathers would have loved the Alameda County Fair is a gross understatement. Good food at a reasonable price ($3-$5 for a snack or drink and between $5-$12 for a whole platter), makes all of the other fair excitement that much better.

Food, food, food as far as the eye could see. Although many stands believed they had “quite possibly the world’s best curly fries”, many did not. However, BBQ and churros around every corner and even some things we’ve never seen before like the chocolate dipped fried pickle, the Krispy Crème Burger and the Cap’n Crunch Chicken Sandwich, kept us wanting more. I even had some deep fried bacon. Whaaaaaaa? Deep fried bacon? Okay, don’t get excited. It was mostly breading but the bacon flavored the breading nicely. And I dipped the extra breading in the hot cheese of these SUPER hot bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers.

We also found a cool place called Southern Comfort Kitchen, owned by two brothers originally from New Orleans, who have perfected things like deep fried gator sticks and crab fries.

But it’s not all about food (WHAT?!? It’s not!?!). While CPM is partial to fair food, games and, of course, animals, we saw one exhibit that gave us complete pause – the train exhibit. With miniature everything, even my photos with no flash in a narrow and dark area came out looking like the real deal. Kudos to the people who put together the miles of track and backdrops for this awesome display. No detail was spared. Excellent job!

Of course, we also love the animals in the fair and we know the time and dedication the exhibitors put into their animals and the education of the public.

So, let’s talk horse racing for a second, which our local county fair no longer holds. This year, 107.7 The Bone had a tent set up in the inner circle of the race track. Holding a party in the middle of the track, Lamont, Tonelli, Baby Huey and Chasta held games like Giant Chess and Giant Jenga, in addition to food, beer and wagering to all party-goers. Here is a few shots of the Boneheads taking pause for the National Anthem.